SOCIAL SKILLS TRAINING WITH CHRONIC-SCHIZOPHRENIC PATIENTS - EFFECTS ON NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS AND COMMUNITY FUNCTIONING

Sixty-three patients with schizophrenia who showed social skills defic its and poor community functioning were assigned randomly to either so cial skills training (SST) or a discussion group condition. In both tr eatments, patients met in small groups for 36 sessions of therapy over 4 months, followed by booster sessions of decreasing frequency during the following six months. Social skills, community functioning, quali ty of life, and positive and negative psychiatric symptoms were assess ed at pre- and posttreatment, and at 6-month follow-up. Relapse was as sessed during the treatment and follow-up phases. Those subjects who c ompleted SST showed greater increases in social skill than subjects wh o completed the discussion condition, but there were no other signific ant differences between the conditions. Patients who completed either treatment showed improvements on quality of life and reduced psychopat hology. SST alone had limited effect on community functioning.